Qantas opens Mascot facility in $100M investment

• Qantas Airways opened a new training centre in Mascot as part of a broader $100 million investment in facilities.
• The airline reported an underlying profit before tax of $2.06 billion for the full year.
• The company is offering $1,000 in shares to around 25,000 non-executive employees to reward performance target milestones.

Qantas Airways (ASX:QAN) opened a new training centre in Mascot as part of a broader $100 million investment in new infrastructure.

The underlying profit before tax of $2.06 billion represents a $330 million decrease compared to the previous financial year.

The group’s total fuel cost for the year was $5.7 billion, including a second-half fuel cost impact of $610 million.

Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson stated, "This year was defined by two very different operating environments as a result of the conflict in the Middle East. In the first half, Qantas and Jetstar were both performing strongly, with demand growing across the domestic and international networks."

Qantas and Jetstar continued to see strong travel demand and strong revenue across the domestic market for the majority of the year, which saw the group's domestic operations deliver $1.44 billion in underlying EBIT, despite the impact of significantly higher fuel costs.

As part of the initiative, around 25,000 non-executive employees will receive $1,000 in shares under the company share plan.

Following the announcement, the Qantas Airways share price was down at $9.22.

The board has approved a fully franked final base dividend of $300 million, equivalent to 19.8 cents per share. The dividend will be paid on Oct. 14.

The facility launch forms part of an ongoing operational upgrade across domestic infrastructure.

The fleet renewal programme continues alongside broader investments in customer loyalty programmes and aircraft upgrades.